BROWSING: Google

Hello! And welcome to our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. There's a lot of nutty stuff that goes on in this industry, so this column is a chance for us at RCRWirelessNews.com to rant and rave about whatever rubs us the wrong way....

The Federal Communications Commission said 214 applicants qualified to bid in the 700 MHz auction set to begin Jan. 24. Internet search engine giant Google Inc. joins a mix of leading mobile-phone carriers, cable and satellite TV operators and rural telephone companies in competition...

Clearwire Corp. said it will offer Google Inc. applications including Gmail, Calendar and Google Talk to its subscribers.Craig McCaw's WiMAX startup said the Internet services will be available to customers in the first half of this year, and the company plans to use Google's...

Google Inc. kicked things off at the Macworld Show in San Francisco by unveiling a streamlined version of its iPhone interface.The interface, which was launched last month, serves as a single access point for Google services including Gmail, Reader, calendar and Picasa. The Internet...

A high-tech group urged the broadcast industry to stop mischaracterizing government testing of unlicensed wireless devices. The testing, which is set to enter a second round, is being conducted to determine whether portable wireless gadgets can operate in vacant television channels - called white...

Frontline Wireless L.L.C.'s freakish free-fall has begun to raise questions about whether the upcoming 700 MHz auction will produce a bidder willing to spend billions of dollars on spectrum and construction of a national public safety-commercial broadband network.Click here for complete 700 MHz auction...

Editor's Note: Welcome to Reality Check, a feature for RCR Wireless News' new weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. We've gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile content industry to give their insights into the marketplace. In the coming weeks...

This "openness" thing is contagious.Yahoo Inc. is the latest to court third-party developers, announcing its intention to "enable and lead a mobile ecosystem" to spur the creation of mobile applications. The company unveiled a developer platform and said it will support "mobile-optimized applications" such...

There is no shortage of reasons why traffic on the wireless Web hasn't matched the sky-high forecasts of a few years ago. But one of the biggest stumbling blocks may also be the most overlooked.A recent study from JupiterResearch found that nearly twothirds of...

Online search provider ChaCha last week sashayed onto a very crowded mobile dance floor.The Indianapolis startup unveiled a short-code based version of its search offering, which uses paid human "guides" instead of computer-generated algorithms to deliver information. Users can send questions to 242242 (ChaCha)...

San Francisco's long-delayed plan to bring free, citywide Wi-Fi coverage to its more than 800,000 residents seems to have been revived. Meraki Networks Inc. announced that it will deploy such a network throughout the city by the end of the year thanks to a...

The crowded mobile search space welcomed a new player as ChaCha brought its online service to wireless.The Indianapolis startup unveiled a short-code based version of its search offering, which uses paid human "guides" instead of computer-generated algorithms to deliver information. Users can send questions...

In the early days of wireless, rate plans were an a la carte-style hodgepodge of offerings at a host of price points. Like new cars, basic calling plans could be packaged with premium options such as voicemail and caller ID, and a consumer often...

Editor's Note: The following are the stories that had the biggest impact on the wireless industry in 2007, as chosen by the RCR Wireless News editorial staff.1. Jan. 15 issueApple Inc. introduces the iPhone.2. Feb. 19 issueAT&T Mobility announces plans to use Qualcomm Inc.'s...

The pieces continue to fall in and out of place in the ever-evolving wireless world, but it now appears the many changes - from the subtle to the spectacular emergence of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, Google Inc. and open access - have unwittingly joined in...

Many of the sexiest offerings in mobile content will continue to struggle to take flight in 2008. Wireless video will slowly gain steam in the United States, thanks largely to Qualcomm Inc.'s MediaFLO service, but carriers still must find the best ways to monetize...

Below are RCR Wireless News' 10 biggest stories of the year. These are the stories that rocked the industry in 2007, and set the groundwork for the future of wireless. 1. iCANDY iPhone looks tempting, but users have to wait until June to see if it...

Hello!And welcome to a special edition of our Thursday column, Worst of the Week. As 2007 draws to a close and we take stock of all the changes that have happened in the wireless industry, we can't help but wonder how things will look...

The Federal Communications Commission said it received 266 applications for the 700 MHz auction, with small and rural telephone companies dominating a field that also includes leading mobile-phone operators, Google Inc., EchoStar Satellite L.L.C., and some surprises. Click here for complete 700 MHz auction coverage. Nearly...

Editor's Note: Welcome to Yay or Nay, a feature for RCR Wireless News' weekly e-mail service, Mobile Content and Culture. Every week we'll review a new wireless application or service from the user's point of view, with the goal of highlighting what works and...

Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry. In the coming weeks look for columns from Current Analysis' Avi Greengart, Jupiter Research's...

ONLINE ADVERTISERS ARE INCREASINGLY LOOKING to deliver highly targeted come-ons to consumers on their cellphones.Indeed, the wireless advertising market is expected to explode in the next few years as marketing firms learn how to address the mobile market. But all that prosperity will come...

The debate whether to unleash a potentially huge amount of vacant broadcast spectrum-called white spaces-for Wi-Fi and other low-power wireless applications has reached a critical juncture, with federal regulators set to conduct another round of testing on a new group of devices to see...

Separate mobile Linux efforts have been cited by competitors as likely to lead to fragmentation.That's an ongoing debate, to be sure. But one Linux camp and an analyst said last week that "fragmentation" definitely means fragmenting the pool of application developers available to any...